In quarterback Caleb Williams’ first two years in the NFL, he was widely criticized for his low completion percentage. As a rookie for the Chicago Bears, his completion percentage was 62.5, and it went even lower in 2025 with a completion percentage of 58.1.
However, it has skyrocketed in 2026. Through the first eight weeks of the season, Williams has the second-highest completion percentage in the NFL at 70.9. Only Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has a higher completion percentage at 73 percent. Bears offensive coordinator Press Taylor explained what has led to Williams’ increase in completion percentage so far this season.
"The decisiveness," Taylor said. "He’s hitting the top of the drop and the ball is coming out to where it’s supposed
to be or he’s quickly down to a progression or check down to keep us on schedule. I think he and a lot of our guys realize now if we can stay in these normal down situations, we’re just going to keep unloading the clip and we’re going to keep firing, keep doing all this.
“When it’s there, take it. When it’s not, put it in play. We’ve got a lot of dynamic players that can do a lot of good things with the ball in their hand. And some of it’s running the football. Our guys understand how much goes into every single run play and run call and the ownership that the quarterback has, that the offensive line has in that, and staying on schedule. And that’s just going to keep us turning. We spend a lot of time building this game plan. We’ve got a lot of cool things. A lot of people get the opportunity to be involved, but you’ve got to stay on schedule to be able to utilize a lot of that.”
Chicago will need his decisiveness against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football. It will be the Bears’ third primetime game in a row. They will also be looking to get to 4-0 in primetime games, while the Buccaneers are looking to get their third win in a row.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: What's helped Bears QB Caleb Williams increase completion percentage
